


Companies and Crowds

by the_glow_worm



Category: Temeraire - Naomi Novik
Genre: Anal Sex, Blow Jobs, Humor, M/M, Misunderstandings, Pining, Smut, Spitroast, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-27
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:27:47
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25542853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_glow_worm/pseuds/the_glow_worm
Summary: Another day in the life of John Granby, another failed attempt to seduce William Laurence. But when a misunderstanding pairs him off with Tharkay instead, tantalizing new possibilities open up for all three of them.Mostly smut.
Relationships: John Granby/Tenzing Tharkay, John Granby/William Laurence, John Granby/William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay, William Laurence/Tenzing Tharkay
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65
Collections: Temeraire Summer Exchange 2020





	Companies and Crowds

**Author's Note:**

  * For [itsdrarrybaby](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsdrarrybaby/gifts).



“It has been damned hard to be alone in the world,” said Granby one morning, deciding to go for the blunt approach. The servants had left them to their breakfast, Iskierka and Temeraire out on the wing, and Tharkay had not yet arrived; it might be the only time all day that it was only himself and Laurence. “Indiscretions are one thing, but I find I wish for a more steadfast partnership, if you take my meaning, something I could share with an _honorable man_ , one that I have known through many years and hardships."

Having finished this carefully planned speech, Granby stared hard at Laurence, willing the message to sink in.

He was hoping Laurence would answer along the lines of, “Indeed, and I shall gladly remedy the situation by ravishing you here at the breakfast table, unless you think it improper,” but instead Laurence gave him a stricken look.

“Forgive me for asking," he said, in a painfully concerned voice, "but do you lose all hope of reconciliation with Captain Little, then?" 

Augustine, as far as Granby could tell from reading between the lines in his letters, was cheerfully breaking the hearts of half the men in Dover; Laurence, of course, could not be counted upon to know this.

"My relationship with Little is as it has ever been," said Granby, diplomatically eliding all the bedroom antics they were no longer having. Someday, there would be a term for two good friends who also, in the friendliest way, liked to debauch each other. He could see that Laurence had fully worked himself into convincing himself that it had ended in heartbreak, however, so in a burst of inspiration he added,

"I wonder if he could not tell that there had been, for a period of several years, a man to whom I had given the greater part of my affections, although neither he nor I had said anything of it, and knowing this had set me at liberty, as it were, to pursue it." Granby glanced up to see what effect this speech had made. Laurence's face had gone completely blank.

"Ah. I understand you now."

"Do you?" Granby cried, in sudden hope.

"Yes, and I have reason to believe the man in question shares the same sentiment."

Granby was melting. "Does he," he murmured, staring at Laurence's lips. In his mind he was already tied to the bedpost, with the curtains very firmly drawn.

He had no idea how he came to be seated, twenty minutes later, across from an equally unenthused Tenzing Tharkay. Laurence had left them with the most awkward speech imaginable, clapping them each on the shoulder and saying something about them being “very happy” before walking off. 

Granby felt distinctly _un_ happy.

“Well,” said Granby, looking at Tharkay. “Have you any idea what we do now?”

“I expect that we shall spend a week or so in blissful courtship, begin to quarrel over small misunderstandings, gradually discover irreconcilable differences, and then amicably go our own ways, having given it an honest try. It should take no longer than a season." Tharkay stared at him impassively.

“Very good,” said Granby uneasily. “You know, I hadn’t the faintest that you were…”

“An invert? Like yourself?”

"Not that I'm not used to playing the fool, but I had no idea you knew about _me_ , either." He dug his hands—hand and hook, rather—in his pockets, drew them out again, folded them on the table. "I have no idea what to do with my hands. Hand."

Tharkay drew a deck of playing cards out of nowhere.

"Oh thank heaven," said Granby.

"Piquet?"

"I can’t play worth a damn. Yes."

Tharkay began to deal out cards. “I assure you, there are no subtleties in the game that cannot be faked in a way that would not be detectable from a distance.” Granby immediately craned his head around.

“Some subtleties, however, cannot be faked at all,” said Tharkay with a sigh, as Granby saw Laurence sitting unconvincingly on the other end of the garden, clearly not reading a book.

“He’s watching us,” said Granby.

Tharkay didn’t look up. “Yes, I know,” he said coolly. “Do _you_ plan to disappoint him?”

“Lord, I haven’t sweated so much since my mother last dragged me to church," said Granby. "I was convinced she had a surprise wedding planned for me, and names for all the children already written out. Look here, doesn’t it defeat the purpose to be a matchmaker _and_ a chaperone?"

“Such crude ideas,” said Tharkay mildly. “Without his cooling presence, I might have even been tempted to hold your hand.”

Granby snorted.

“My hands would be wasted on holding,” he agreed, before he could really think through what was coming out of his mouth. Tharkay glanced at him. A speculative gleam in his eye was there and gone so fast that Granby wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined it. He sneaked another glance at Laurence. They said that uniforms made the man, but Laurence was unfairly well turned-out in the latest fashions from London. The advantage of Laurence pretending not to be looking at them was that he was too distracted to see Granby eyeing the cut of his buckskins.

"Do you know, I don’t think it was ever made clear to me how you came to be here,” said Granby, still staring. He had never seen a man who found it less necessary to pad his calves.

“I evidently did not choose my words to him carefully enough,” said Tharkay. “I suppose it was very kind of Will to throw together the two primary inverts of his company, however unnecessary.”

That made Granby look sharply at Tharkay; not for the sentiment, which he was himself sharing, but because of the familiar way he said _Will_ , as if he had a right to it more than anyone else. Tharkay was smiling, thin as a woman’s veil, his eyes shifting amber in the morning light as their gazes met. He’d said it on purpose, Granby realized, to keep him from looking at Laurence too long.

From the pavilion came Temeraire’s voice, carrying clearly across the length of the garden. He needed Laurence for something urgent, a letter to Parliament or somesuch, and his normal secretary was indisposed; Laurence got up right away, of course, and went to him. He disappeared behind the pavilion wall. Tharkay continued to arrange the cards, even though Laurence wasn’t there to watch them anymore.

Granby looked at his hands, long-fingered and skillful despite the many scars that ran over them. He imagined what else they could do.

“Do you prefer a shag instead?” said Granby, and Tharkay dropped his cards.

“Yes,” he said immediately, and they both bolted inside and up the stairs to the bedrooms.

* * *

Granby had naturally intended to lead them to his room, where he had certain things arranged to his liking, but somehow he found himself quite effortlessly pressed up against the door of Tharkay's room. He didn't object; he didn't have enough breath to. Tharkay was moving his hands with deliberate purpose over his body. Granby could feel their heat against his skin through the layers of his clothes as they ran down his ribs, his waist, his hips, and then undid the buttons of his trousers, one by one. His hands moved up, slowly sliding the coat off Granby's shoulders, fingers trailing heat.

It was all very nice and romantic. Granby shrugged out of the rest of his coat, impatient.

"Let's have a little more haste here, if you please," he suggested. "Pretend you've already seduced me."

“I’ll do my best to use my imagination,” said Tharkay dryly, but his hands moved faster, unbuttoning Granby’s waistcoat, shoving his suspender straps off his shoulders. Granby, breathless from the rapid undressing, reached out to return the favor, but Tharkay only caught his wrist in his hand, holding it immobile, and kissed him.

It was a very effective kiss, Granby could give it that. He was rendered utterly incapable for a moment before Tharkay broke it off to pull Granby’s linen shirt over his head. He was naked now except for his boots, the remnants of his clothes pooling around him on the floor. Tharkay, on the other hand, was still maddeningly fully-dressed. There was nothing Granby could do about that, however; Tharkay pulled him inexorably after him into the bed, and they sank together into the mattress.

Granby managed to squirm out of his boots, distracted all the while by Tharkay’s hands, exploring in unexpected places. Granby made no further attempts at Tharkay’s clothes. The front opening of Tharkay’s buckskins was undone, and that, Granby found, was more than enough for all their needs.

"Do you think _this_ was what Will had in mind for us this morning?” he inquired, reaching into Tharkay’s buckskins and wrapping his hand around his cock. “Just curious as to your thoughts on the matter.”

Tharkay’s cock was suddenly as solid as steel in his hand. He groaned, his eyes flashing dangerously at Granby above him.

“Let us simply tell him his efforts were a success, and leave it at that,” said Tharkay. He paused. “Not to be presumptuous,” he added dryly, with Granby naked on top of him, “but the oil is in the first drawer.”

Well, Granby didn’t need a second invitation. He found the oil, slicking himself, and sank down onto Tharkay, straddling him. For a moment Granby only rested there, feeling the size and pressure of Tharkay’s cock inside him, how it stretched him out, how it pressed against all the right places. He closed his eyes, indulging in fantasy, and began to ride the man between his legs, moving his hips gently at first, and then faster, and faster. He felt hands clutching at his hips, fingers digging into flesh.

At the same time, they both moaned, " _Will._ "

Granby froze, his eyes flying open.

"I knew it!" he accused. "You were trying to seduce him!"

Tharkay looked heartily embarrassed at himself, but he still quirked an eyebrow at this.

"What gave it away? Was it when I asked him to live with me, or was it back when I chased him to New South Wales?"

"You weren't the only one chasing," grumbled Granby. He moved his hips again, and was gratified to see Tharkay gasp and look at him from below his lashes, glittering-eyed. "And do you know, now I suspect that your story is the same as mine. You threw yourself at him, confident he couldn't fail to grasp the point this _once_ , and he merrily let you fall off a cliff."

Tharkay sighed, although midway through it turned into a moan as Granby slowly continued to roll his hips.

"I told him I was an invert in this very room," said Tharkay, his voice gone very low. A frisson of arousal went through Granby just at the sound of it. "Oil and lotion standing on the table, the bed unmade, I myself clad mostly in my dressing gown. Somehow he walked out the room with both our virtues intact."

"I'd hazard a guess that it's a tad too late for _all_ of our virtues," said Granby, and was proved right a moment later when Tharkay hooked a hand around his thigh and turned him effortlessly onto his back. Tharkay began to thrust into him in earnest; fast, sure movements that sent fire down his spine. 

“So it seems that we set our caps, as it were, on the same man,” he said, low, into Granby’s ear. “How amusing to find ourselves in each other’s traps, and our quarry slipped safely away.”

Granby laughed breathlessly. “You should see all the tricks I’ve tried. I thought I would finally have a chance in Australia. Although you were always putting yourself in the way somehow—suppose now I know why.”

“Well, I am very sorry to have deprived you of the object of your affections,” said Tharkay, not sounding very sorry at all. He began to move faster inside of him, and Granby groaned. 

"You're making a strong case for yourself, however," said Granby, panting. "As am I, I hope?"

"You're certainly more likely to notice my attentions," said Tharkay.

"Well, you're inside me," said Granby reasonably. "Even Will couldn't be oblivious to that."

"He would surely find a way," said Tharkay, trying to be wry but only coming out breathless. Granby’s laugh turned into a moan as soon as it came out of his mouth. Tharkay was setting the pace, driving into him like he wanted to set him on fire. It was working, in a way; Granby was melting, panting, clutching fistfuls of Tharkay’s coat in his hands.

“I’m going to ruin your shirt in a moment,” warned Granby. “I— _ah_ —I think it’s only fair revenge for taking me to bed without even undressing.”

“I’m going to ruin _you_ ,” Tharkay returned without a pause, and bloody hell, did that do it for him. He came in a long, glorious release, spilling all over himself and Tharkay. Tharkay followed him soon after, and for a moment they lay together panting.

“Good lord, I had no idea you were such a rake,” said Granby, bewildered. “Ruin me, indeed.”

“It’s really too bad that we spent so long getting in each other’s way,” said Tharkay, looking at him frankly, “when we might have been working together.”

“Working together—on what? Luring Will to our beds?”

“One bed, I was thinking.”

Granby paused, thinking about this. “If there are any that are big enough. Those shoulders—” He felt Tharkay’s cock twitch inside him.

“Those shoulders,” agreed Tharkay.

“Have you ever seen him with his hair loose? I curse the man who told him that queues were out of fashion now.”

“It’s not all bad. I suppose you haven’t seen him in pantaloons—you can see every muscle in his thigh.”

Granby sighed at the idea, and then sighed again as his common sense reasserted himself.

“Never mind that, it’s a pipe dream. Not that it’s not a pleasant pipe dream—” He paused for a moment as his mind supplied images of Tharkay _and_ Will in bed with him. “—but even if he could be convinced to try one man, I suppose his sense of honor would preclude having two—” Granby stopped, frowning at Tharkay.

“How are you already getting hard again?” he demanded.

Tharkay’s face revealed nothing.

“Keep telling me about his sense of honor,” he said.

“This isn’t the _most_ bizarre bed scenario I’ve been asked to take part in, but it’s close. I suppose you also want to hear about his insatiable hero complex, his horrible propensity for self-sacrifice, his inability to ignore injustice—ah, I see we’re ready for a second round.”

Tharkay abruptly pulled out of him, tucking himself back into his breeches and hurriedly doing up the buttons.

“Put on your clothes,” Tharkay hissed.

"I've just been plowed into your mattress, give a fellow a moment to breathe—"

“There’s someone outside the door,” said Tharkay, and Granby’s complaints broke off into nothing. A moment later there was a knock.

“Tenzing, are you there?” It was Laurence, of all people. Granby froze on the bed. Why on earth was he here? “Tenzing, I—I couldn’t find Granby. I wanted to tell him the truth, too. I cannot be silent any longer. I wish—God, I wish I could have been honest earlier. But what good could have come of it? Tenzing, if you’re there—” he sighed. His voice was low and sad. “You’re not there. I’m certain you’re with Granby, wherever he is. The two of you are sure to be happy together. I only wish—I only wish I could tell you how in love I am with you both.”

Tharkay immediately went to the door and yanked it wide open before Granby could even react. He was breathing hard.

“You love us,” said Tharkay. “You love us both.”

Laurence stared and stepped back, startled.

“Tenzing,” he said. His gaze moved to Granby, naked on Tharkay’s bed, and his eyes widened. Shock and sadness flickered over his face in equal measures. “John,” he said, in a pained voice. “Forgive me. I hadn’t realized…” his throat worked. “I should go. Temeraire and I will go back to London. I had no right to say anything. You should do me the kindness of forgetting my words; they were hasty and ill-considered.”

“Like hell,” snapped Granby. Tharkay didn’t bother objecting; he simply grabbed Laurence by the lapels and pulled him into the room by main force.

“You love us,” said Tharkay again, sounding faintly dazed. “Then why on earth have you been so bull-headed?”

“If he answered _that_ , we’d be here all day. No, I want to hear why he never said a damned thing to either of us, all this time!”

Granby pulled a bedsheet around his waist and stood up. Laurence looked at him, stricken.

“What could I say, John? I was in love with you both. I never realized it until I was so deep in the water for both of you that I could not choose. It would have been ungentlemanly in the extreme to ask either of you to accept a divided heart, or to share it with another.”

Granby only cared about one word of all of that.

“Was?”

“Am,” he admitted softly. “I _am_ in love with you both.”

“And to prove it,” said Tharkay, a little cold with anger, “you would have run away to London, and begged us to forget about you.”

“Not to mention that you paired us up only this morning,” put in Granby. He shook his head. “This is a new height in self-sacrifice, Will, even for you.”

“You told me that you were in love with Tenzing!” said Laurence. “An honorable man, that you have known for many years and hardships—”

“You unutterable ass, I meant you!”

“I—” Laurence’s head went back and forth between Granby and Tharkay like a pendulum of a bewildered clock. “But you—and he—Tenzing, you told me that you found yourself lonely, that you wanted for the company of a man who was trustworthy through thick and thin—”

Tharkay looked at him pointedly. Laurence stopped.

“Oh,” he said. “Both of you?”

“I imagine far more than just the two of us,” said Tharkay dryly. “But yes, both of us.”

He reached out, slow and reverent despite his words, and took one of Laurence’s hands in his. After a moment, Granby took the other, entwining his fingers through Laurence’s. He watched in helpless fascination as Laurence shivered at their touch, his breath coming fast, his eyelids fluttering closed. Then he pulled back.

“I couldn’t,” said Laurence, shaking his head. “You’re already a pair. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t be with either of you without destroying what you might build together—”

“Why not?” Granby interrupted. “You love us both. Why can’t you have us both?”

That silenced him. Granby leaned forward, putting his hand on his face.

“Don’t offer us a divided heart,” said Granby. "Offer us _your_ heart, and trust that it's enough for us both."

"I'd survive off the scraps from your table, if I had to," said Tharkay. "Half a heart is more than I had dreamed."

Laurence was trembling beneath their hands like a well-run horse. Granby stroked his face, his hair, trying calm him, and then Tharkay was there, pressing his forehead against his, murmuring to him in a low, urgent voice, tender endearments of the kind that he had never thought to hear out of Tharkay’s mouth. Granby wasn’t so eloquent, but he could use his mouth in other ways. He leaned forward, tucking neatly against Tharkay’s cheek, and kissed Laurence on the lips.

Laurence came alive beneath him, as if this kiss was enough to seal a promise with, enough to sweep away his doubts for good. Granby had wanted this for so long. He had dreamed of kissing Laurence, of his lips opening up under his, his hands coming up his ribs and holding him close. The bedsheet around his waist fell away, and he was naked again, clenching Laurence’s shirt in his fist, pressed against him so tight that he could clearly feel Laurence’s answering erection against his thigh.

This _was_ a dream, then. Nothing ever went so smoothly in life, not for him; somehow this was a vision more perfect and real than anything he could have imagined. But no, Granby realized, he was awake after all, because Tharkay was here, and he had certainly never dreamed of _that_. He didn’t think he had the clarity to. 

He had never dreamed of Tharkay’s hand moving on his back, seeking Laurence’s, had never imagined seeing Tharkay lay kisses up and down Laurence’s neck, whispering his name. Laurence moaned out loud, and the sound sent a heady rush of blood to Granby’s cock. Granby withdrew, letting Tharkay kiss him, while he knelt down and began to work feverishly on his breeches.

Even one handed, a handful of buttons should have been nothing to an aviator used to unhooking carabiners mid-flight, but Granby’s hands were trembling, with exhilaration and lust. He was undressing Laurence, Laurence who had been his captain and his friend, Laurence who was now moaning helplessly into Tharkay’s mouth. His coat and waistcoat were coming apart in Tharkay’s hands, and for a moment Granby only watched, his heart pounding in his mouth.

Laurence was undone in Tharkay’s arms, his back completely pressed against Tharkay’s lean chest. He had turned his head over his own shoulder to kiss Tharkay, and the action had revealed the long, lovely line of his throat. Granby traced it with his eyes. He thought he was in danger of coming just from the sight of it, and of Tharkay’s long graceful hands trailing over his chest, and pulling the suspenders down off his shoulders.

Granby could take it no longer. He pawed the buckskins off completely. Laurence was stiff, leaking all over himself. Granby heard his gasp and moan when he took his cock into his hand and began to kiss it. The smell of him was so, so good, and Granby could not resist nuzzling at him, licking him down the shaft and all over the sensitive head.

Laurence’s knees buckled, but Tharkay caught him without effort, holding him upright against his chest and murmuring in his ear. Granby crawled closer. He took the head of Laurence’s cock into his mouth and began to suck.

He could almost come just from doing this. He was moaning around Laurence’s cock, taking him deeper and deeper into himself, until he could feel pressure against the back of his throat. It felt so good to let Laurence fill him like this. Deliberately, he swallowed. Laurence cried out raggedly and jerked back. It was too late; Granby had already brought him to climax. His cock spurted white all over Granby’s face and hair, painting him in the evidence of their coupling.

Laurence was panting hard, melting against Tharkay. Granby was unprepared to look up into his face. It was so undone, made ecstatic by orgasm, as beautiful as one of the saints.

“John,” he said, seeing Granby’s face. “I beg pardon—”

“Yes,” murmured Tharkay, drawing his linen shirt over his head. “You will.”

Laurence was utterly naked, utterly beautiful. Granby, still on his knees, touched his hands over his hips, the lower plane of his stomach.

Somehow Granby and Tharkay maneuvered Laurence to the bed. They were kissing and touching him together, running their hands over his chest as if they could not hear enough of his moans. Granby’s good hand met one of Tharkay’s, and then somehow they were kissing across Laurence’s chest.

The man was, unbelievably, still clothed. Granby set to redressing that, attacking the buttons with a ferocity he thought any soldier would have appreciated. Laurence roused himself and helped, kissing Tharkay senseless, tugging his coat off his shoulders as Granby got off the breeches, putting a line of kisses down the insides of Tharkay’s legs.

Then he and Tharkay and Laurence were all kissing, a desperate crush of lips and quick shared breaths. Granby had no sense of which of the two he was kissing at any moment, as the other would be laying kisses down his neck, or nibbling sloppily at his ear. The sensation was unbearable. He was so hard that it was nearly painful, but all he wanted to do was kiss, and kiss, and kiss.

He felt a hand wrap around his cock. He opened his eyes, and the sight of Laurence, naked and kneeling between his thighs, was nearly enough to make him come right then and there. Instead he pressed himself back against the headboard, gasping, as Laurence’s hands came down and stroked him.

“John, do allow me to return your favor,” said Laurence earnestly, and stooping his head took Granby’s cock into his mouth.

“Will,” Granby managed, but only barely. This was nothing like the sloppy, hungry act he had performed on Laurence. He was being slow, deliberate, even a little hesitant, and it occurred to Granby then that this could be the first time for him. That thought made him moan, and then moan again as Laurence began to bob his head slowly, up and down. The slow wet slide of his mouth was torture, every nerve ending begging for release. His mind went pleasantly blank. Laurence’s mouth was on him, around him, it was Laurence on his knees for him on the bed, it was Laurence making him moan. 

He was aware in a distant way of Tharkay moving around them on the bed. In his hand was the oil. He kissed his way down Laurence’s body, biting at his shoulders, raking lightly with his fingernails. Granby could tell whenever he hit a sensitive spot by the way Laurence gasped and shuddered around his cock. At last Tharkay knelt between Laurence’s legs, two of his fingers drenched in oil, and rubbed them at his entrance.

“Will,” he said, circling with his fingertips. His voice was calm, but his eyes were wild, filled with light. “Can I—”

There was no hesitation from Laurence. He took his mouth off of Granby for just a moment to answer.

“Yes,” he panted. “Yes, by God, Tenzing, yes—”

He rubbed back against Tharkay’s long, clever fingers. They were still circling, circling, but at last Tenzing, with some kind of inhuman patience, slowly breached him, sinking his fingers in to the knuckle.

Granby watched it happen in fascination. He could _feel_ Laurence moaning around him, the vibrations of his throat making him feel like a madman, and all he could think was that he needed Tharkay to keep going, to reach further in, to stroke and press and make Laurence’s body ignite, make him feel so, so good—

Tharkay was drawing out the oil again. His hands were shaking. They almost never shook, these days; Granby had watched him do his exercises every morning for an hour, because he never wanted them to be weak again. But they were shaking now, as he dripped more oil onto his fingers, pushing it into Laurence, rubbing it all over his cock, and Granby knew why. He wanted, as much as Granby did, for Laurence to feel good, to show Laurence, with their bodies, how they loved him. His eyes met Tharkay’s, over the broad expanse of Laurence’s back, and knew that they understood each other. In that moment Granby was sure, as he had been sure of little else, that in time what he felt for Tharkay could come close to what he felt for Laurence now.

“Will,” said Tharkay again, straining. His voice had gone deep again. His cock was pressing against Laurence’s entrance; Granby could feel Laurence shivering at the touch, in anticipation and need.

Tharkay didn’t need to ask the question. Laurence pressed back against it, wanting, and Tharkay sank into him with a groan.

“Tenzing,” said Laurence raggedly. “Dear god, yes, yes—” He moaned, incoherent with pleasure. Granby could feel himself coming undone at the sound. He carded his hands through Laurence’s hair, something tender and savage unravelling within him. Laurence took him into his mouth again, and he thought he might explode.

They were fucking him together, Tharkay’s thrusts pushing Laurence forward onto his cock, and Granby thrusting in perfect answer; they were giving Laurence what he, what he wanted, they were all three of them bound together like the knot that their bodies made when were lost in pleasure like this, hands entangling, and skin touching everywhere.

Oh, damn it all. Granby really was going to explode.

“Will,” he said, trying to warn him, but he barely had time to withdraw from Laurence’s mouth before he was coming, abruptly, all over him.

He tried to wipe the mess off of Laurence’s startled face, apologetically. “I tried,” said Granby. “I didn’t mean to make you a matched set to me—”

“John,” said Laurence, panting. “Do shut up and let me kiss you.”

Never let it be said that Granby could not follow orders. They settled into a new position, Tharkay leaning back against the foot of the bed to make room for Granby to slip beneath Laurence. It was the second time that day that Granby would be on his back, but he didn’t mind. If Laurence wanted to kiss him, to see the mess he had made of his face, then that was what he would do for Laurence. And more; he drew his knees up to his shoulders, baring himself in blatant invitation.

Laurence’s eyes widened, while Tharkay made a low sound of appreciation; nice to know that Granby could drag a man’s focus from William Laurence, of all people.

“John,” he gasped, running his hand over the curve of one buttock, as if unsure if he was allowed.

“Surely you can’t possibly think I wouldn’t want you inside of me?” Granby demanded. “I’ve wanted it for years.”

It was true. He had dreamed of this. He had a thousand dirty fantasies of Laurence, and a thousand and one where they were lovers, where they held each other in the silent night, where they fed each other strawberries at breakfast, where they shared a single cup of wine and watched their dragons fly. They had kept him warm through all the long nights of the war. So it was strange, now, how easily he could let them go, or rather amend them. Instead of the world for two that he had imagined, there was a third man, slotting in so easily and perfectly that it was as if he had been there all along, just waiting for Granby to notice. It was the three of them, him and Will and Tenzing, and it could never have been otherwise.

He was still thinking all this when Laurence entered him.

This was better by far than any fantasy. Granby cried out, unable to stop himself. The weight and warmth of him between his legs was incredible, intoxicating. He felt filled up completely. Nothing could have compared, nothing; and then, far above him, he felt Tharkay move.

The movement rolled through all three of them like a tide, threatening to sweep him away. Laurence moaned, caught in their middle, and Granby tightened around him. He desperately wanted to make it good for him, the way he was making it good for Granby, the way Tharkay was making it good for them both. Laurence groaned again, low in his throat, and so too did Tharkay. They were moving like they were one beast—three backs, Granby thought hysterically, had Shakespeare ever thought of that?—like there was one string that ran between them, connecting all of their hearts and making their bodies a seamless whole. They were thrusting all together, moaning in unison. His lips found Laurence’s, and he could taste his own come on his lips, could feel Tharkay’s hands gripping his hips, could feel the motion of their bodies as they all came together.

They collapsed into a pile, cramped and sweaty and perfect, although Granby suspected that they would all start to stink in a moment.

“Tenzing,” he said out loud. “You’re going to need to get a bigger bed.”

Tharkay laughed. Granby didn’t have time to wonder if he had ever heard him laugh before, because then Laurence was laughing with him, a sound full of wonder and joy. His face, when Granby looked at it, was pure relief, as if he had been afraid that this was only a dream, and, waking, found it real. His hands found them both. Granby kissed it, and then kissed him and Tharkay together.

He wondered if there would be strawberries for breakfast.


End file.
